Adventures in Spittoon
by JJthetoadboy
Summary: Danny and his family go to visit his Aunt Alicia for the summer, after a disaster at the church potluck Danny needs to unravel the mysteries of the small town, combat the bomb-obsessed ghost mayor, and keep his secret safe from a boy who's always in the center of a disaster. (This is set somewhere in the late first season.) UPDATE: over 1000 people have seen this oh gawd.
1. Chapter 1 Welcome to Spittoon

Danny's sleep was disturbed by a stray sunbeam spilling from a crack in his curtains. He rolled over before sitting up. _Oh god, I'm late for school_. He thought, racing through his house in a panic. He was pulling on his shirt in the kitchen, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth when he remembered. "It's summer!" he shouted happily.

"Yes dear," Maddie chirped, walking into the kitchen. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a pink flannel.

Danny stopped celebrating momentarily and eyed his mother's strange -well strange for her- attire. "What's with the getup Mom?" he asked.

"Your Aunt Alicia asked us to come to spend the summer with her. She hasn't seen you kids in a while, and the fresh air will be good for you."

"Mom! What about my friends?"

"They'll be fine for a few months. You'll make new friends in Spittoon."

 _Sam and Tucker might be fine, I'm more worried about Amity Park._ He thought.

"Danny-O! Are you excited to see your Auntie Alicia?" Jack Fenton walked into the kitchen, his arm around Jazz.

Danny grunted and walked towards the stairs, "I'm gonna go pack."

"Hurry up Danny, we leave in an hour," Maddie called up the stairs.

 _Great._ Danny thought _Three whole months for ghosts to destroy the town…_

He logged onto his computer and video called Sam and Tucker.

"Hey Danny, wanna meet at Nasty Burger later?" Tucker asked.

"Sorry, Tuck. I'm spending the summer in Spittoon, Arkansas," he sighed

"Danny you can't!" Sam practically shouted, "What about Phantom?"

"Well… the ghosts want to attack me, so maybe they'll follow me to Arkansas? You guys still have the Fenton Thermoses I gave you, right?" They nodded, Sam opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Maddie yelling from downstairs.

"Danny! We need your bags, come downstairs!"

"I've gotta go, guys. Bye." Danny left the call and stuffed his clothes into his bag. He raced downstairs and into the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle.

The three-hour drive was excruciating, Danny was cooped up, Jack and Maddie were obnoxiously singing along to the radio, and Jazz was constantly quoting her boring psychology books. Although he was dreading his visit, when they turned onto the dirt road towards Alicia's cabin Danny breathed a sigh of relief.

His Aunt was perched on a rocking chair, sipping lemonade. "Well if it isn't the Fentons."

"Alicia!" Maddie jumped out of the RV and wrapped her sister in a hug.

"Are y'all coming to the church potluck tonight?" She asked

"Of course we are!" Jack exclaimed, excited at the thought of a party.

"Do I have to?" Danny and Jazz asked in unison.

"Of course," Maddie said disapprovingly, she turned back towards Alicia, "When does it start?"

"About 6 O'clock." She grunted, "go ahead and get settled in in the meantime."

Alicia rose to her feet and led the Fentons into her house. The inside was surprisingly polished, harboring a small galley kitchen, an antique dining set, an old worn couch cloaked with quilts, one small door, and a ladder leading up to a loft.

"Jack can sleep on the couch, kids I've cleaned up the loft, and Maddie I set up a cot in my room for you," Alicia said, eyeing Jack suspiciously. "And don't be going through my stuff."

Danny and Jazz climbed the ladder where they found two small cots surrounded by boxes and clutter. Jazz quickly claimed the cleaner of the two and pulled out her book. Danny shuffled through his bag and pulled out his watch. It read 5:45. _Great._ Danny thought _Only 15 minutes before I have to go to the church shindig. Maybe I should survey the area…_

Before he could go ghost Jack yelled for him from the ground floor. "Danny boy! Jazzie pants! We better get a head start on that potluck!"

They groaned and reluctantly rose from their cots. Jazz tucked her book away and Danny pulled out a Fenton thermos.

"Ready to go?" Jazz asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Danny replied and went down the ladder.

The walk to the church was pleasant, it was still early June and a may breeze still swept through the trees. He had to admit, stretching his legs did feel great.

The atmosphere in the churchyard reminded him of the Christmas truce, the townsfolk all seemed friendly and inviting, but somewhat hostile. Alicia went to work introducing Maddie to everyone. Danny slunk out of the crowd and sat down, leaning against the chain link fence. A few minutes later a boy in overalls walked over to him holding two sodas.

"Want one?" He asked, sitting down next to Danny.

"Thanks." Danny accepted and took a sip from the can.

"So you're Alicia's nephew?"

"Yeah, I'm Danny."

"Mason."

"How do you know Aunt Alicia?"

Mason shrugged. "It's a small town."

"Oh."

They both sat there, facing the busy churchyard when Danny's ghost sense went off.

Mason gave him a confused look.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Uh yeah, which way's the bathroom?"

"First door on the left, can't miss it."

With that, Danny ran off towards the church.


	2. Chapter 2 BOOM

**Masons POV**

"Weird kid," Mason muttered to himself. _You were being too overbearing._ He thought. _Of course, he was being weird._ Mason looked up towards the sky, the sun was silhouetting the town's skyline. Suddenly a black streak raced through the clouds. Mason spit out his drink and looked around. No one else seemed to notice it. He jumped the fence and ran towards the direction the black thing had flown. _What are you doing?_ He asked himself _I have no idea. Just the way I like it._ He wondered what Danny would think when he came back. That was almost enough to make him turn around, then again he was already at least a mile into the forest at this point. He sighed and turned around. Best not to alienate the new kid.

 **BOOM**

An explosion rocked the forest floor, knocking Mason off his feet. _What the hell?_ He thought. _I should go check it out…_ And with that, he was off, running another half mile before coming across a smoking crater. "Weird…" He thought out loud, "Why's the smoke green?" He came closer and looked down into the crater then screamed at the sight of Danny laying burnt and limp in the middle of the crater.

Mason slid down the slope and put his fingers on Danny's vein. He breathed a sigh of relief to find Danny still alive. He picked up the frail boy and gently carried him to the nearby creek. Mason took off his shirt and soaked it in the cold creek water. He then began pressing the wet cloth gently onto his burns. Danny winced from the pressure and his eyes flew open.

"Calm down man." Mason said, "you got burned pretty bad."

"It's fine," Danny said, gritting his teeth from the pain.

"To hell it is! You're gonna sit still while I fix you up."

"No!" Danny shouted, and tried to stand up before collapsing back onto the ground.

"Look, the sun sets in an hour if you wanna be back home you need to sit still and let me help."

Danny grunted angrily, but let him help.

"Looks like your ankle's twisted. What happened?"

"Long story."

"I've got time. Did you see that black thing too?"

Danny tensed. _Interesting…_ thought Mason

"I'll take that as a yes," Mason said and pulled his shirt around Danny's ankle as a makeshift bandage. "Do you think it caused the explosion?"

"I dunno," Danny muttered through gritted teeth.

"Hey… wait… how'd you get here before me? I didn't see you in the forest?"

"I'm fast." Danny crossed his arms and took a deep breath, "Can we go now? My parents are probably worried…"

"Look, it's getting dark, you need to rest and the grownups are wasted by now. If we get back 'round sunrise nobody'll notice. I'll go get some firewood."


	3. Chapter 3 Randolf

**Danny's POV**

Danny breathed a sigh of relief and allowed himself to relax, leaning his back against a nearby tree stump. _Thank god he left._ Mason had come close to finding out his secret. _Ghosts in Spittoon are hardcore_. He shuttered at his memories of his battle with 'Randolf'. A few minutes later Mason came trampling through the brush with an armful of twigs.

"Doin' alright?" Asked Mason, tossing the sticks into a pile.

Danny grunted. "How're you gonna light that?

Mason pulled a small book of matches from his pocket and set the pile ablaze.

"Oh…" Danny said, trailing off.

"Ya know, I wonder what happened back there…" Mason said, laying on his back, looking at the stars. "The explosion, I mean."

"I dunno… gas leak?" A year ago Danny would've winced at the poorly constructed lie, but he'd gotten used to half-baked fibs.

Mason sat up suddenly. "Of course!"

"Of course what?" Danny asked, anxiety building in his gut.

"The old mines! I mean I've heard stories, but you're the only one to find it!"

"Like landmines?" Danny asked, slumping back onto his elbows.

"Kinda… do you know the history of Spittoon?"

"No…"

"Well, Spittoon was originally a mining town. Nothing special, small amounts of coal, diamonds, iron… but there were rumors of oil. The original mayor was insane and decided to use bombs to find oil. An obviously flawed strategy, but the townsfolk went along with it. So they put bombs down wherever they could, buying them with the minerals they had mined. Recently after the bombs had been placed the mayor killed himself. The new mayor canceled the program and the bombs were removed. However, the previous mayor hadn't recorded all the bombs. In the next few years, people walking through the forest would get exploded. It got so bad that no-one would walk in the forest. But, people forgot, as people do… and the bombs just became another piece of spittoon lore. Lots of people report seeing phantom explosions and stuff, but nobody's been exploded in the last hundred years. It's weird."

"Well... that explains a lot," Danny responded, dumbfounded. "So this mayor, what was his name?"

"Ummm, I think it was Randolf… yeah, Mayor Randolf. Why?"

"Dunno… just curious," Danny said as calmly as he could despite his excitement, it was a rare occasion knowing the previous identity of a ghost.

"So, how long are you staying in Spittoon?" Asked Mason.

"All summer."

"So you're staying with Alicia?"

"Yeah. Me, my sister, my parents."

"Cool. Wish I had a sister. I live with my cousins."

"How many do you have?"

"Three."

"Wow I only have one," Danny said, wondering how Danni was.

"Didn't know Alicia had kids," Mason said, his brow furrowing.

"Dad's side. Wish I had more cousins though."

"Eh. They're not that great."

Danny chuckled, "Don't I know it."

"You better be getting to sleep. I'll keep watch."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, get some rest. I'll wake ya up at sunrise."

Danny closed his eyes. It had been quite a long day.


	4. Chapter 4 A dog

**Mason's POV**

Danny had drifted off to sleep within minutes leaving Mason alone to mind the fire. He pulled out his pocket knife and began sharpening a stick to pass the time. Around midnight a rustling sound came from the nearby bushes. Mason held his stick in a defensive position and stood over Danny to protect him. Another fifteen minutes of rustling revealed a skinny hound dog who slunk out of the bush and jumped up on him, wagging its tail.

"Hey boy," Mason whispered scratching the mysterious dog behind its flea-bitten ears. "What are you doing here."

Mason grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck and carried it away from Danny. He sat down on the ground and set the dog on his lap who immediately fell asleep. _Today has been productive._ Mason thought, _New friend, new dog, old mines… yup. Pretty productive day._

With that, he sat lost in his thoughts until the sun peaked around the horizon.

Mason rubbed his eyes and pushed the dog onto the ground.

"Yo Danny!" Mason shouted and stamped out the campfire. He turned around and found the frail boy's skin to be completely healed. "Danny?"

Mason shook him awake.

"What?" Danny said groggily.

"Dude your skin! It's fixed!"

Danny's eyes widened. "Yeah… the Fentons are quick healers."

 _Guess they weren't very serious burns… weird, but I'm not really a burn expert._ Thought Mason

"Wow, that's gotta be some kind of record. Actually, speaking of injury, how's your ankle?"

Danny shrugged and tried to push himself to his feet, before falling back down.

"I'll carry you," Mason said then nudged the dog with his foot.

"Where'd it come from?" Danny asked, leaning towards the mutt.

"I dunno. He showed up 'round midnight."

Mason picked up Danny and began walking back towards the churchyard.

"How do you know where you're going?" Danny asked.

"The church is upstream. All we have to do is follow the creek."

"Hey, is the dog supposed to be following?"

"Doesn't matter. He's not my dog. Is he following?"

"Yeah. How long till we get back?"

"We can make it in about twenty minutes at this pace. Know any ghost stories?"

"You don't know the half of it," Danny muttered

"And you've never been to Spittoon. It's haunted"

Danny raised his eyebrow. "Bet Amity Park is worse."

"Get back to me in a week. I'll bet you my lucky pocket knife Spittoon is worse."

"You're on."

The trashed churchyard came into view. Red solo cups littered the pavement. Tables full of food had been overturned. The preacher was passed out in a trashcan.

"Looks like a tornado swept through," Mason muttered. "This is honestly the worst one yet."

"Guess Sunday service is canceled." Danny joked, earning a chuckle from Mason.

"Grocery won't be open till Mr. Williams recovers from his hangover." Mason grinned.

The two boys joked until they reached Alicia's cabin.

"Do you think you can make it inside on your own?"

"Maybe…"

Mason let Danny down and helped him limp to the front door.

"See you around Danny," Mason said, returning to the dirt road, dog in tow.

"Bye."


	5. Chapter 5 Suicide Lake

**Danny's POV**

 _How am I going to explain a twisted ankle to my parents?_ Danny wondered. Even with his advanced healing he still had a crippling limp. Danny took his time going up the ladder to the loft where he found Jazz softly snoring, phycology book laid open on her face. Danny put on a pair of pajamas and collapsed onto his cot. It sure didn't feel like he'd slept through the night.

Next thing he knew he was being jolted out of a dream by a loud banging from the kitchen.

"Breakfast!" His Aunt shouted, hitting a spoon against a frying pan.

Danny groaned and tried to cover his ears with his pillow, but his Aunt persisted. Danny caved and threw on a fresh pair of Jeans and a t-shirt. His ankle still hurt, but he could now put his weight on it without collapsing.

"Danny, Dad's eating all the eggs!" Jazz called from the lower level. "You better get down here."

"I'm coming!" He shouted back, and carefully lowered himself down the ladder.

After a hearty breakfast, the adults sent Jazz and Danny out of the house so they could recover.

The minute they were out of view from the cabin Jazz shot Danny an angry look.

"Where were you last night?" She shouted.

Danny returned her glare. "Milking a cow. What do you think I was doing, genius?"

"Then why didn't you come home last night?" she demanded.

"This new ghost has all sorts of crazy powers. I kinda twisted my ankle during the fight."

"Well did you at least catch him?"

Danny shook his head, "He exploded."

"Oh my god. Danny are you okay?"

"Yeah, my burns healed in a few hours." He said, choosing to leave out Mason. Jazz didn't need anything else to over analyze.

"You're just lucky Mom and Dad didn't find out. How about we go explore the town now?" Jazz changed the subject.

Danny nodded, eager to get a feel for his surroundings. It was already at least 90 degrees out, even though it wasn't yet noon. It didn't take long for them to reach the General Store.

"Y'all are Alicia's kids, aren't ya?" Shouted a blonde heavy-set man sitting on the steps of the store.

"We're her niece and nephew," Jazz said, approaching the man with her hand extended for a handshake. "I'm Jazz and this is Danny."

"Jasper." He took her hand in a death grip, "And these are my brothers, Eli and Otis."

He gestured to a skinny red-beared man dressed in traditional cowboy gear, bolo tie and all, and a muscular man with a black mullet covered by a red trucker hat. They were all chewing some sort of tobacco and stopped to spit every five seconds.

"Pleased to meet ya," Eli said, sticking out his hand for Danny to take.

"You too," Danny responded, "What're you chewing?"

"'Backy," Otis said, spitting another glob of the stuff into a golden jar at his feet.

"Don't you know tobacco causes cancer!" A horrified Jazz shouted before Danny could stop her.

The men lowered their eyes. _Great. Jazz's big mouth is about to get us in trouble._ Danny glared at her. The standoff was interrupted by the screen door loudly creaking open. Mason emerged, followed by the same half-starved mutt that had followed him out of the forest.

"Oh. Hey Danny." He said. Mason looked worse for wear, his overalls were probably more made of patches that actual jeans, his t-shirt was faded, his feet were bare, and under his eyes were large bags. "I see you've met my cousins."

Jazz shot Danny a look like 'we need to talk about this later' before saying, "And you are?"

"I'm Mason, me and Danny met last night at the potluck."

"He hadn't mentioned anything." Jazz glared at Danny.

"Didn't get around to it." Danny shrugged, avoiding Jazz's eyes. "So Mason, what do you do for fun around here?"

He shrugged, "We have a lake down the way. We could go swimming."

"Sure," Danny said, "Never been swimming in a lake."

"Meet up here in 15?"

"See you there."

Mason walked around the store into a smaller cabin, that was presumably his house. Danny nodded goodbye to Mason's cousins and started back towards Alica's house. After about two minutes in the forest, Jazz spoke, "So who were you fighting last night?"

"Guy called himself Randolf. Some insane mayor from the early days of Spittoon, he was obsessed with bombs or something when he was alive."

"Danny I'm worried about you. You need to tell me what happened last night."

Danny sighed, he knew she would get it out of him eventually. "Fine. I was sitting with Mason when my ghost sense went off, I went to the bathroom and flew into the forest. There was this ghost, he was super creepy - and that's saying something. He looked like some sort of… Frankenstein, like just imagine ectoplasm spilling from his stitches and his exposed brain melting like an ice cream cone." Danny shuddered at the thought, "So I asked him who he was and what he was doing, he said he was Randolf and that I was trespassing or something. He threw what I thought was an ectoblast at me and disappeared. Little did I know, it was some sort of bomb. So next thing I know I wake up in the middle of the forest, Mason pressing a wet t-shirt against my burns. My ankle was twisted so I couldn't walk home."

"Did he see anything?"

"Not anything important." He shrugged.

"If he didn't see anything how'd he know you were in the forest?" Jazz raised her eyebrow, "And don't try lying. I didn't hear an explosion."

Danny sighed. It was no use lying to Jazz. "He saw me flying into the forest and decided to follow, okay?! See, nothing important." Danny brushed past her and ran the rest of the way to the house. He quickly changed into a pair of blue swim trunks and a white tank top. Ten minutes later he was sitting with Jasper, Otis, and Eli on the front porch of the General store. He didn't have to wait long, Mason came around the corner wearing brown swim trunks and another old t-shirt.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yup," Danny said, walking over to him. Mason looked different in the daylight, he was a few inches shorter than Danny but definitely older. He had a muscular, wide-shouldered frame and light brown hair. He had quite a few prominent scars, the most noticeable of which was a long jagged one down his forearm. "What's that from?" Danny asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Knife," Mason said, refusing to make eye contact.

 _Whoops._ Danny thought, _Better lighter the mood… what would Tucker do?_

"You're gonna lose that bet. I haven't seen a single ghost since I got here." Danny grinned.

"You just haven't been looking," Mason said with a grin, happy to change the subject. "Trust me, once you've been swimming in Suicide Lake, you'll change your mind."

"Dude. _Suicide Lake_. You sure that's safe?"

"Of course. I do it all the time. There are barely ever dead bodies there."

Danny stopped. Mason turned around, a cheesy grin plastered on his face. "What? I'm only joking. It's called Suicide Lake 'cuz that mayor killed himself there."

Mason turned around and kept walking, unbeknownst to him, he had only increased Danny's anxieties about "Suicide Lake." He ran to catch up with Mason, who was several yards in front of him, at the top of a small hill.

"Ta-da!" Mason shouted, gesturing at a muddy pond at the bottom of the hill, "Behold Suicide Lake!"

"Cool," Danny said while it wasn't exactly what he was expecting, It had a charm of its own. A neon kayak was anchored to some sort of a makeshift dock across the way. A rope hung over the lake from a tree branch about two feet in front of them. All and all, not a bad lake.

"You ready?" Mason asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"For wh-"

Danny was cut off by a scream of triumph from Mason. He was swinging on the rope. He let go and dropped the 6 feet into the lake. He resurfaced seconds later, spitting up water like a fountain.

"Now you go!" He shouted, treading water.

Danny didn't give himself time to hesitate, he grabbed hold of the rope, swung a few feet, and heard a loud cracking sound above him. The branch holding the rope had broken.


	6. Chapter 6 A Heartbeat

**Mason's POV**

Danny screamed, he was plummeting down towards the water, him and a massive tree branch. They hit the water at the same time, creating a wave that threw Mason away from the impact. _Oh my god, he's dead. Danny is fucking dead._ Mason's mind was racing, luckily the logical side of him kicked in, _He probably just has a concussion. Shit! Now he's drowning!_ Mason dove under the water, searching frantically for Danny. He found him laying perfectly still at the bottom of the lake. _What did I fucking tell you? He's dead. Why does this always happen to me?_ Mason dragged Danny upwards, praying for a miracle. It was hard to tread water for two, even though Danny was light, Mason could barely keep both of their heads above water. Once they reached the shore Mason was so tired he could barely see straight. But he had to keep going. _Quick! Give him CPR!_

"But I don't know CPR!" Mason shouted, but began pumping on Danny's chest anyway. He tried in vain to resurrect him, to no avail. Danny had taken his last breath. Mason took a deep breath to compose himself and gently rested his hand on Danny's vein. The younger boy's skin was ice cold, Mason almost pulled his hand away before he noticed something. Danny still had a pulse.

 _That's impossible!_ He thought. _He isn't breathing!_

But there it was, a heartbeat.

"But… how?" Mason whispered, he then realized something alarming, Danny was profusely bleeding from a nasty crack in the middle of his head. _Fuck,_ Mason thought. _This is not good._


	7. Chapter 7: Dizzy

**AUTHORS NOTE: So currently I don't have wifi at my house, and can only post at school. So enjoy this chapter that was supposed to be posed Monday. :) Have fun living in** **suspense** **my 5 lovely followers!**

 **Danny's POV**

All he could feel was pain. Like a thousand migraines at once. He almost didn't notice the panicked screams of Mason.

"Fucking shit! I fucking killed him! Why does this keep happening?!"

"Mason." Danny slurred. "Dude I'm fine."

"Oh my god. Danny! How the fuck are you alive?"

"Whatda ya mean?"

"Dude you got smashed in the skull by a tree branch and you haven't taken a breath in a good ten minutes. Not to mention the giant fucking crack in your skull!"

 _Shit._ Danny thought. Having superhuman healing abilities could come in handy, but this one would be hard to explain. "I dunno what to tell you, man. It's probably not as bad as you thought."

"I can see your fucking brain."

"I'll be okay like I said, we Fentons are quick healers."

"Quick healers my ass. You were _dead._ "

"Let's just head back to my Aunt's." Danny snapped.

Mason nodded, "I'll go get some help." He turned around and ran up the hill.

 _Goddammit._ Danny thought, his head was still throbbing in pain. The last thing he needed was a bunch of people - or doctors for that matter - poking around near his brain.

"Danny!" a familiar voice shouted from the top of the hill.

"Aunt Alicia?" Danny shouted back.

His aunt rounded the top of the hill, first aid kit in hand. Mason was following quickly behind.

"Mason said something about you being hurt?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Danny said defensively.

"To hell you are!" Mason shouted.

Danny shot him a sideways look, which was quite hard to do considering he couldn't move his head.

"Alrightly then, let's seen the damage." His Aunt bent over him and gasped at the pool of blood that was gathering around the boy's head.

"Is it bad?" Mason asked from just out of view.

Alicia regained her composure. "Naw, he'll be alright. We'll see what his parents think when they come home."

His aunt wrapped his head in a layer of bandages.

"That should keep you nice and safe, to be honest, it's more of a cut than a 'crack in yer skull.' Your friend over there sure likes his tall tales."

Mason shook his head, "No. I could've sworn I could see his brain!"

Alicia spit on the ground. "Bullshit. He's perfectly fine." She stuck out her hand to help him up and pulled him to his feet with surprising strength. "Look at that. He can walk."

"I _know_ he was dead. He wasn't breathing!"

Alicia shook her head, "I told Eil you weren't right in the head. C'mon Danny."

The two of them walked back towards Alicia's cabin in silence. Danny's mind was racing, his heart was pounding. He could remember swinging on the rope, the cracking sound… then it all went black. And his healing ability. It had always been good, but a few minutes ago he had a brain-exposing crack in his skull, and now it was just a cut? _Maybe Mason is right. Maybe something in this town is messing with my ghost powers… but what? My ghost sense hasn't gone off since that incident in the woods…_ his thoughts were interrupted by his Aunt.

"Danny! You feelin' alright?"

"Uh, yeah." _considering my skull was just cracked open._ He added in his head. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Funniest thing, yer sister came back this morning all worked up and they decided to take her 'sightseeing' or sumthing. Said they wouldn't be back till late. In the meantime you should probably get some rest."

Danny nodded, his head did still hurt. Laying down would probably help. "Alright. I'll be up in the loft if you need me." He climbed up to the second floor, collapsed on his cot, and fell asleep wet clothes and all.

 **Buzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzz**

Danny woke to a buzzing mosquito in his ear. He slapped at it angrily but immediately felt a sharp pain in the palm of his hand. _What the hell?_ He thought, looking at a bleeding pinprick in the palm of his hand. He felt like he'd been stabbed with a needle. He sat up, but almost immediately collapsed. _Jesus Christ. I must've bled out._ Spots were appearing in the corners of his eyes, he was light-headed beyond belief. The world faded to black.


	8. Chapter 8 The cabin

**Mason's POV**

Mason ran. Over the hill, through the forest, into his house. Otis shouted to him from the porch. Mason ignored him and dashed up the stairs into his attic bedroom. _He. Was. DEAD._ Mason thought angrily. He knew he should be relieved, but Danny hadn't been breathing. What the hell. And how fucking dare Alicia bring _that_ up. It wasn't his fault Jamie had died. The nerve of that _BITCH!_ He wanted to scream or throw something. _Calm down, Mason! Go for a walk. Chill._ He followed his own directions and raced back down the stairs, yelled to his cousins that he was going for a walk, and trampled west into the woods. He didn't care where he was going. He just needed to get away.

He tore through the woods for longer than an hour before he had to stop and rest. All that cross country training had paid off. He surveyed his surroundings. This was far from his usual haunts. _Good._ He thought. _No one will find me._ A loud bark sounded from behind him. He turned around to see the same half-starved mutt that had been following him around the day before. "What're you doing here?" He asked the dog. Instead of coming towards him it ran further into the woods. "Get back here!" He sprinted after it but lost it in the underbrush. He continued walking and calling for the dog until he came across an old, rotting house. _Weird. Looks abandoned…_ He tore away at an ivy vine that snaked across the door. It looked like no one had been in it for years. _How horror movie is this?_ He imagined the news headlines; **BOY KILLED IN MYSTERIOUS ACCIDENT WHILE EXPLORING ABANDONED HOUSE**. _Fuck ghosts though._ Mason thought and tried to push his way into the house. The door promptly collapsed inward onto the floor. _Guess that's one way to do it._ He thought and stepped across the threshold. He immediately choked on the stale moldy air and yanked his shirt up to cover his mouth. _Smells like something died in here._ The smell made sense, considering he must've stirred up 50 years worth of dust when he pushed down the door.

He carefully stepped further into the cabin. The only light came from the doorway, it was otherwise pitch black. He reached up to grab his pocket flashlight then stopped. "The one time I'm not wearing my overalls." He muttered and made his way into a dimly lit kitchen. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust, the only light filtering in from a partially boarded up window. By the look of things, the previous owners had left in a hurry. Cabinets were flung open, plates were still piled up in the sink - the ones that weren't laying smashed on the floor that is. He went back to the hallway and flung open the other door. Behind it lay a shabby, mouse-eaten living room. Weird stains and scratches decorated the walls. A pile of bones sat in the middle of a sunken couch. _Hopefully, it's just a deer…_ He thought and ducked out of the room before he could take a second glance.

 _Only one place left to go…_ Mason thought, eyeing the rotted staircase. _I've gone this far. Might as well._ The first step groaned under his weight. The second and third were no better. The fourth snapped, his leg plummeting downwards. He swore and continued upwards with no issue. Several moldy unmade straw mattresses laid on the floor. Other than that the upstairs was fairly normal - save for a thick layer of dust. Just as he was about to walk back down the stairs a toxic green glow caught his eye. "What the-"

A large wooden chest sat against the wall, the light coming from its keyhole. Mason gravitated towards it. _Maybe some kind of bioluminescent fungi?_ He thought, trying to rationalize the phenomenon. He carefully stepped forward, careful not to disrupt any rotting floorboards. The second his hand touched the top of the chest he pulled it away. "Ow!" He yelped. The wooden chest felt like a griddle. The light continued to radiate out from the keyhole. _I've got a bad feeling about this._ Mason thought before running back out of the house. _Maybe that wasn't the best idea…_

 _BARK!_


	9. Chapter 9 Mag-O-gnats

**Author's note: I know this chapter is of less quality, but it's legit the only reason I wrote this fic. I dreamed up mag-O-gnats one day and this world was built up around them. Enjoy!**

 **Danny's POV**

"Jesus Christ boy!" It was his Aunt Alicia.

"What?" He mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut against a blinding light.

"Why in the hell didn't you have a magnet on you?" She was standing over his cot, magnet in hand. It was covered in thousands of small bugs.

"Why would I have a magnet?" He rubbed his head. He was still light-headed, but no longer seeing spots.

"I'll explain once you've eaten something." his aunt responded, shoving some beef jerky in his face. They sat there, Danny eating the jerky for a good while before his Aunt spoke again. "You feelin' better yet?"

Danny nodded, "So, why did I need a magnet?"

"The mag-O-gnats."

"The what?"

She held up the magnet. "Mag-O-gnats, them mosquitos that steal the iron from yer blood."

"Never heard of 'em," Danny responded.

"Told Maddie not to raise y'all in the city." She sighed, "Here."

She handed him what looked like a keyring, except instead of keys there was a Swiss army knife, a small flashlight, and a magnet.

"What's this for?" Danny asked.

"Well, the Swiss army knife and flashlight come in handy all the time, magnets for the mag-O-gnats. They're made'a metal so they stick. "

"Wow… never heard of them." Danny said, flipping through the various attachments on his Swiss army knife.

"You make sure to keep that on you," Alicia said and stood up. "I'll go get dinner started, ya need anything?"

"Actually, is there any other sort of super-powered bugs I should know about?"

"Tell you what, I'll fill you in over dinner." His Aunt nodded and went down the ladder.


	10. Chapter 10 Family dinner

**Mason's POV**

Mason whipped around his heart racing. "Oh!"

The dog stood on the doorstep, wagging its tail. "Jesus Christ! Didn't even hear you following me." He chuckled and walked to scratch the dog behind the ears. It ran back into the house before Mason could reach it. "Goddammit," He swore and dashed after it. "Here boy! C'mon boy, wanna treat?"

He followed it into the den, but the dog was nowhere to be found. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He muttered. "Must be some kinda hole in the wall." He walked to the far wall and bent down. "Nothing. Weird." He peaked under the couch. No dog. _Damn thing must've run past me._ Mason thought and traipsed back out the door. He reached the outside and decided to try calling for the dog again. "Here boy!" Nothing. He decided to walk back to his house. He had gone maybe fifty feet when behind him he heard a loud.

 **BOOM**

He turned back around, to find the house desecrated. In its place a smoking crater. Out of the smoke arose a figure. It had a singed, twisted form. Its red eyes were bulging from sunken cavities. Its body was built as if you had put hundreds of dolls through a woodchipper then tried to put it back together. Kind of like Frankenstein's monster but somewhat... melted. A glowing green sludge dripped from its stitches. Its skull was fractured, goopy pink brain matter oozed from the cracks.

Mason's eyes widened, he turned around and began to run. Through the brambles, over the creek, into the meadow. He ran to the general store, shouting for his cousins. "Eli, Otis, Jasper! Help!"

"Mason! Is everything okay?" Otis rounded the corner and Mason collapsed onto him panting. His muscles ached, his lungs burned. Otis held him out and took a good look at Mason's terrified expression. "Jesus Christ! Ya, look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Naw, but I nearly got ran over by a deer." Mason lied.

Otis chuckled. "How many times I gotta tell ya, the momma deer is not abandoning its baby for you to have!"

Mason forced a smile, "I forgot."

"Go inside and clean yerself up. Jasper's makin' deer stew."

He walked back towards the house, glad they had finally gotten indoor plumbing. The warm water soothed his racing mind. It wasn't the first time he had seen a ghost, but holy hell, that one was disturbing. He shut off the water and threw on his overalls. _I should take Danny back there. I'll win the bet for sure._ He thought before stopping himself. _Probably shouldn't go back there. I've already almost killed him once. He probably won't even wanna hang out with me anymore. Damn bad luck._

"Mason, dinner!" Jasper called from the kitchen.

Mason walked into the kitchen, "Where's Eli?"

"He went into town to get some vaccines for the barn cats," Jasper answered and poured Mason a bowl of stew. "Said to eat without him. What were you gettin' into today? Otis said ya almost got ran over by a deer."

"Just fuckin' around. Must've upset the Momma." Mason said between bites of stew.

"Is that Fenton boy alright? I seen him comin' up the path all bandaged up." Otis asked.

 _Worried son of a bitch._ Mason thought before answering, "He got whacked on the head with a tree branch. Seemed fine though."

"Good. Maybe you should stay nearby tomorrow. I'll mind the store with Jasper and you can take care of the animals with Eli."

"Actually tomorrow I was gonna build a dog house for that mutt that's always following mason around. Asked Eil to pick up a collar for it at the farm store when he gets the cat shots." Jasper said.

"I'll help you out, but I'm guessin' Eli wants nothin' to do with them cats. Better help take care of them first." Mason added.

It was Mason's turn to wash the dishes, Jasper had gone to the barn to draw up plans for the doghouse, and Otis went to close the store for the night. He scrubbed a greasy pan for a good five minutes before looking up to see a black figure, outlined with a glowing white aura dart across the field - the same thing he had seen at the potluck. He dropped the pan and sprinted for the door.


	11. Chapter 11 Murder

**Danny's POV**

Danny climbed down the ladder his Aunt had set the table for dinner.

"Alright, made cornbread and stuffed peppers. Dig in." Alicia said, setting a tray of cornbread on the table.

"Thanks, Aunt Alicia," Danny said, he was still light headed and the peppers smelled heavenly.

They ate in silence for a while before Danny spoke up. "So these mag-O- gnats, how come I've never heard of them?"

"I never heard of 'em till I came to Spittoon. Don't think they live anywhere else."

"Oh, so what else lives around here?"

"Bobcats, skunks, 'coons, weasels, possums, ghosts, deer, snakes, toads-" Alicia listed before being cut off be Danny.

" _GHOSTS?"_ Danny choked on his cornbread.

"Well of course. We have the occasional ghoul, just like everywhere else. Why would your parents agree to come here if there weren't any ghosts?"

"So Mason was right…" Danny muttered to himself.

"Do me a favor and stay away from that Taylor kid. He's some kinda psychopath. He fuckin' killed his brother."

"What the hell?" Danny gasped. Mason was definitely a weird kid, but not a murderer. Then again, he had only known Mason for a few days. "When?"

"Few years back, before he came to live in Spittoon Mason lived with his parents and his little brother, Jamie. When Mason was 'bout nine he pushed his four-year-old brother out a window. His poor parents saw it. His Dad was already unstable, and that pushed him off the edge - literally. His Mom wasn't willing to let her son go to some insane asylum, so she told the police Jamie had jumped out the window on his own. She got addicted to all kinds of drugs and overdosed. Eli got custody, that's how Mason ended up here."

Before Danny could ask any questions, Jack burst through the door.

"Danny boy! Guess what we saw today!"

"I don't-"

Jack cut him off, "We went to a haunted house!"

Maddie and Jazz walked through the door. They both looked exhausted. Jack could do that to a person (especially if that person had a hangover).

"I'm gonna go get some sleep." Danny faked a yawn and walked over to the ladder.

"Hold on Danny!" Maddie said worriedly, "Why's your head all bandaged?"

"Just a cut, I got hit with a tree branch," Danny muttered. "Can I go upstairs now?"

Maddie's forehead wrinkled. "Okay, sweetie. Good night."

Danny climbed up the ladder and wrote a note to Jazz; _Jazz- went on patrol, be back soon. Plz cover 4 me. -Danny._

Danny put the note on Jazz's pillow and lowered himself out the window.

"I'm going ghost!" He whispered and transformed into Danny Phantom.


	12. Chapter 12 Wat

**Author's note: Yo, sorry for the short chapters lately. Hope posting like 6 at one time makes up for it. Also might not post as much (finals, my teacher also gets really mad when I write instead of paying attention in class), but knowing me and my obsessive personality, probably not. Ok thanks bye. Hope you like it! Also may redo first chapter. I kinda hate it now.**

 **Mason's POV**

Mason darted through the field after the… bird? He didn't know exactly what it was, but he had to find out. He ran through the forest but quickly lost sight of the glowing thing. Mason pulled out his flashlight and swept it across the forest floor. Nothing.

"Hun," Mason muttered and wandered deeper into the shrubbery. A glowing green light flickered in the corner of his eye. He pulled out his switchblade and crept towards the light. _What am I doing?_ Mason asked himself. _Too late to turn back now._ He answered and continued forward. He crouched down and peeked around the trunk of a tree. _What the fuck?_ Standing in a small clearing was a boy, maybe 14 years old. His hair boots and gloves all were a pure white. His jumpsuit was a charcoal black. His eyes glowed green. The green light came from a ball in his hand that he was using as a flashlight. The most unsettling thing about him was the fact he was floating about two feet off the ground.

The kid turned in Mason's direction. _Shit._ He thought, realizing his flashlight was still on. The boy floated towards him. _Shit shit shit shit shit._ Mason sprung to his feet and raced in the other direction.


	13. Chapter 13: Dude, that's a lotta knives

**Author's Note: Hey! Sorry for being off the grid for a while, I was going to walk down to the library to upload, but the weather hasn't been the greatest. I'm mooching off my friend's wifi now so expect more frequent updates, instead of the four or so I'm posting tonight. Enjoy!**

 **Danny's POV**

Danny streaked through the sky, past Mason's house, into the forest. He flew for a few minutes before light on the ground caught his eye. He floated a few feet above the forest floor and lit an ectoblast. Nothing was there. He was just about to fly away when he noticed the light in some bushes. He floated towards it, ectoblast at the ready when a dark figure shot out of the bush into the other direction.

Danny shot the ectoblast on reflex. The light from the orb illuminated the figure before knocking it down. "Mason?" Danny shouted and flew to his side. The older boy's eyes were squeezed shut in pain.

"Who's there? I'll fuckin' stab you!" Mason screeched and jumped to his feet brandishing a two-inch switchblade.

Danny's eyes widened and the hero in him came through, "Sorry to disappoint, but something tells me you won't be doing any stabbing." He rose into the air. Mason threw his knife in a feeble attempt to hit Danny. The smiling ghost boy let the knife sail right through him.

Mason's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed. Danny descended and attempted to lift Mason off the ground. The country boy's eyes snapped open and he drove his pocket knife into the halfa's chest. Danny recoiled. The shock almost made him de-transform, but he was able to stabilize himself almost instantly.

"What the hell? How many knives do you have?"

"More than two!" Mason shouted and reached for his pocket, but Danny was too quick.

"Not anymore." Danny grabbed his hand and reached into his pocket to find a small serrated blade made from flint.

Mason protested and tried to yank himself free from Danny's grasp. Danny held fast to Mason's wrist with one hand and pulled the knife from his chest with the other. A stream of glowing ectoplasm dripped from the wound. The halfa swore and pitched the knife into a bush

"Now are you ready to call a truce?" Danny asked. "It's late, you seem like a _mostly_ reasonable person, and I would like to get some sleep tonight." Danny was no stranger to making deals with enemies, but this was delicate territory. He had to make sure Mason didn't hurt himself or anyone else (not more than he already had, that is), and keep his secret safe all at the same time. Not to mention that Mason was supposedly a murderer.

"I don't make deals with ghosts," Mason said, his voice dripping with venom. "And we don't need to help each other. I can get back on my own. So if you'll let me go…"

Danny rolled his eyes. Typical. "Look, man, I'm sorry I shot you. It was an accident. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly the best with my powers."

"Powers?" He cocked his eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Weird…" Mason muttered under his breath.

Danny swallowed a glimmer of panic and tried to distract the boy. "I don't have time for this. You wanna walk home? Fine. Walk home, see if I care."

Danny dropped his wrist and went invisible.

"Holy Hell!" Mason swore and tried to touch his injured back. The minute his fingers brushed the wound he doubled over in pain again. "Aw fuck."

Danny realized Mason would probably hole up and spend the night in the woods like he had when Danny was wounded. Despite his better judgment, Danny decided he had to help. It was his fault Mason was injured in the first place.

He went intangible and flew through the trees until he was far away enough to not be seen transforming. Once he was back in his human form he sprinted back towards Mason. He wasn't exactly hard to find, every few minutes he was shouting some kind of obscenity.

"Mason?" Danny shouted, making sure the worry in his voice was coming through.

"Ghost boy? I thought I told you to leave me alone!" Mason shouted and scrambled to retrieve his pocket knife from the bush.

"Ghost?" Danny said, trying to sound scared, "Where?" He walked out of the dark so Mason could see him clearly.

"Oh, Danny." Mason gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Mason's eyes widened and a grin flickered over his chapped lips. "I'm totally gonna win the bet!"

"Bet?"

"On the first night, you said Amity Park was more haunted than Spittoon, but I just got attacked by a ghost!" He turned around to show off a festering burn.

Danny winced and a pang of guilt hit him, "Maybe it was an accident?"

Mason frowned. "Funny. That's what he said."

"Hey, which way is back?" Danny changed the subject.

"That way?" Mason guessed, pointing the direction Danny had come from a few moments prior. "Hey, how come you don't know? Didn't you just come from Alicia's?"

"Um, got lost." Danny lied. "Thought I'd be out here all night. I'm not exactly good with directions."

The second part wasn't a lie, Danny had already forgotten which way home was. He never had a strong sense of direction, and it didn't help that he was used to having an aerial view of his surroundings. The only reason he could find his way around Amity was the familiar streets.

"Oh… well if you're hell bent on gettin' home guess we better start walking. I don't think I could stay awake another night to keep watch."

Danny smiled and gestured for Mason to take the lead. The two boys walked in silence, stopping every few minutes to survey their surroundings. After maybe an hour of walking and small talk Mason stopped.

"I think we're lost."

Danny facepalmed. "Fuck."

"Don't worry! I have a plan, if I just climb up that tree," Mason gestured towards a large pine that towered over the mostly oak forest. "I can find out where we are, and next thing you know we'll be home!" He puffed out his chest and boosted himself onto a low branch.

"And you're sure that'll work?"

"Of course!" Mason reassured him, already halfway up the tree.

Danny held his breath. Mason wasn't exactly being careful, and the limbs were getting farther and farther apart. The older boy would soon have to start jumping from branch to branch. If he fell Danny would have no choice but to catch him.

"Be careful!" he shouted.

"Careful's for pussies!" Mason shouted and lept to a particularly high branch that he barely caught.

 _Dumbass._ Danny thought, but his worries were momentarily extinguished as Mason reached the top.

"So, good news and bad news. Which one you want first?"

"Good news first," Danny yelled the three stories up to Mason.

"Found my house."

"Awesome! What's the bad news?"

"There's some big-ass green thing sitting on its roof."

Danny didn't need to hear anything else, he ran through the woods to stop what could only be a ghost.


	14. Chapter 14: Farm Life

**Author's Note: Sorry for the less ghost fighty chapter. I've been missing my family up on the farm and wrote this based on them. I made sure to add plenty of foreshadowing though. ;)**

 **Mason's POV**

"Danny?" Mason called.

No answer.

Mason surveyed the ground, Danny was nowhere to be seen. _Great._ Mason thought. _I knew he didn't like me._ He crept to the tip of the branch, where it was most bendable and let go. As long as he shifted his weight correctly this would give him smooth passage to the ground, similar to sliding down a muddy hill. Around five feet from the ground, he lost control and hit the dirt with a loud thump.

"Goddammit." He moaned, grateful he hadn't landed on his back. He pushed himself to his feet and dusted off the front of his bibs. "Now which way was home again?"

He started off Westward. Or was it East? Usually, he could intuitively tell which way was he was going, but tonight he was rather disoriented. For all he knew he was headed away from home, but it looked like this was his only option. He sighed and kept going. Luckily for him, around the time the sun was winking around the horizon the forest was finally looking familiar to him. Now he was left to worry if Danny had gotten home safe last night. Whatever. He had barely slept in two days, needless to say, he was spent.

He awoke to Jasper shaking him.

"C'mon Mason, you overslept!"

"What?"

"Remember, you promised to help with the animals today, I've already fed the sheep. I'm not doin' anymore of your chores."

"Alright. I'm up." Mason rolled onto his back and winced. He had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out in pain. "Just give me a minute."

"S'already quarter past 8, ya better hurry up." With that Jasper walked down the stairs, leaving a trail of muddy boot prints in his wake.

Mason rolled out of bed, grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and flew down the stairs to tend to his burns. They were worse than last night, giant yellow blisters freckled a gaping red sore. He sighed and pulled some Neosporin and gauze from the medicine counter. When he was satisfied with his handiwork he threw on his clothes and slapped on a hat.

The day was hotter than a frying pan, and the shade from his baseball cap wasn't helping. The barn cats who usually came right up to him darted away as soon as he got close. Whenever he did manage to get a hold on one it would squirm like a worm on a hook. It only got worse when Eli would stab it in the scruff of the neck to deliver the shot. By the time all of the cats were vaccinated Mason's arms were covered in jagged scratches.

"Little devils." Eli spat. "I need a smoke."

"Me too." Mason joked.

Eli gave him a stone-cold stare and dryly responded, "It'll be a cold day in hell when you get a cigarette."

Mason rolled his eyes. His eldest cousin wasn't the best at reading subtext. "Only kidding. What's next?"

"You gotta go help Jasper with that dog house."

"Alrighty then." Mason trotted off, the sooner he got this done, the sooner he could take a nap.

Jasper had driven a rectangle of planks into the ground and was placing brick to fill the area.

"Thank god! Thought I'd have to build it myself."

Mason grinned, he knew Jasper loved building things and would've gladly constructed a million doghouses. He had even helped build their house. "Where do you need me?"

Two hours later they had built, in Jasper's words, "the finest dog house this side of the Mississippi."

"Good timing too," Jasper remarked as they were inspecting their work, "Its officially noon. How does leftover deer stew sound?"

Mason's stomach grumbled. "Great!"

After a hearty lunch and a quick shower, Mason was left to his own devices. Even though he was expected to pull his own on the farm, his cousins definitely went easy on him. He rewrapped up his burns and ventured back upstairs.

The afternoon quiet gave him a chance to review yesterday's events. Things weren't adding up.


	15. Chapter 15: Josh

**Author's Note: Happy 10,000 words everyone!**

 **Danny's POV**

Danny went ghost and zoomed through the forest, phasing through trees as he went. From his new vantage point, he could see the ghost. Once again there was good news and bad news. Good news, it wasn't Randolf. Bad news, it was giant, with long thin spider-like legs. Danny wasn't terrified of spiders, but creepy crawlies weren't his favorite thing in the world. Nevertheless, he had a responsibility. Once he got closer, he realized that the "Spider" was vaguely human. It seemed to be a shrunken young man in a formal suit. His limbs were not human at all, they were lanky spider limbs. His hair was a bird's nest, and his face had a set of fangs where a mouth should be. Under his shaggy bangs, six beady eyes accompanied his two normal, human eyes.

The literal spider man **(A/N: I'm sorry I had to)** seemed lost. He righted himself when he saw Danny, nodded and nimbly stalked into the forest. The trees barely reached his waist. Danny flew after him.

"Hey!" Danny called after him and floated directly in front of his face. Danny was uneasy. The man hadn't shown any signs of aggression, but his nose alone was easily bigger than Danny.

The man turned to the left and continued walking.

"Hey!" Danny flew after him, "What are you doing here?"

The giant stopped and sighed. "I need to go. I don't want any trouble."

"The only place you're going is the ghost zone!" Danny shouted and reached for the Fenton Thermos. _Fuck._ He thought when he realized he hadn't brought the Fenton Thermos.

The man turned to face him with a rather threatening look on his face. "No, I'm going to Specter Cavern."

"Where?"

"Look, kid, you reek of life so I'll give you a break. I don't want to hurt you, but by sticking around here you might be hurting yourself."

"How?"

"The Mayor's returning. Haven't you noticed? All the rest of the ghosts are already hiding in the caverns."

"Slow down! What's going on?"

"I don't have time. Here." The man handed Danny a wrinkled scrap of paper with some random-looking numbers. "If you decide not to try and live out the apocalypse you can find the caverns here."

The man dodged Danny and continued on his way.

Danny flew back to Alicia's house and phased through the wall.

"Hey, Danny." Jazz greeted, without looking up. "See anything?"

Danny dropped the paper scrap onto her book and transformed.

"What's this?"

Danny explained his encounter with the ghost. Jazz's eyes widened.

"Danny, do you know what this means?"

Danny collapsed onto his cot and covered his face with a pillow. "I hope not."

"The summer solstice is coming up."

Danny sat up. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't know for sure how all this ghost stuff works, but according to town legend, if a bonfire isn't kept lit during the night of the solstice they're basically inviting malevolent spirits to the town."

"That still makes no sense! If the bonfire was lit last year, then how did the mayor return?"

Jazz flipped through her book. "Oh, here it is! Looks like whatever force that keeps them out wears off the sooner it gets to the solstice."

"Sounds like a load of bull to me."

"It sure ain't!" A voice yelled from downstairs **(A/N: Downladder?)**.

Jazz's eyes widened, 'Aunt Alicia?' she mouthed.

Danny nodded, a similarly shocked expression on his face.

"Why don't y'all come down here, I'll brew us some sassafras tea."

Jazz shrugged and started down the ladder, Danny was right after her, praying that she hadn't seen (or heard) too much.

*time skip*

Alicia plunked three chipped mugs onto the table and poured a mahogany liquid into them. It smelled of lemon and rootbeer. They sat at their worn chairs drinking the earthy sweet, almost nutty drink.

"So, what is it y'all wanna know about the Solstice Festival?" She spoke over Jack's defining snores.

Jazz glanced at Danny, who was still staring down into his mug, before speaking. "I've been reading this book, _History of Spittoon, Arkansas,_ and I was wondering about the more... ghostly applications of the Solstice Festival."

Alicia nodded and took a sip of tea. "I 'spected. Y'all are just like yer parents. Well, the original townsfolk started the festival when the ghosts started attacking. They were like them ghosts you got in Amity Park, the evil kind. So they went searching for anything that could help them, and they stumbled 'pon some pagan ritual. Now we light the bonfire to keep the town lit up on the longest day of the year, and that keeps the evil ghosts out."

"Why doesn't it affect all ghosts?" asked Danny.

"No clue, but I'm sure glad it don't. That's how we found old man Snyder in that ditch. Ghosts hang around dead stuff." She chuckled. "Now why don't you answer a question for me. Who was that boy up in the loft? Jazz, you gotta ask if you wanna have company, 'specially if its two in the morning."

The siblings spit out their tea.

"Y'all ok? I can get you some sugar."

"No, I'm fine!" Jazz rushed, "Umm, I'm sorry about… Josh, he stopped by and wanted to talk to me about… stuff."

"Alright, send him on down." Their aunt said with a chuckle.

The siblings shared a nervous look. "I'll get him!" Danny clambered up the ladder and tried desperately to think of a plan. He eventually settled on crawling under his cot to transform and hoping that nobody noticed the flash of light that would accompany it. When he crawled out his usually pure white hair was coated in dust and cobwebs. _Yuck._ He thought and scampered down the ladder.

"Josh?"

"Yeah Aun-, er Miss Alicia."

She raised her eyebrow. "Now what were you doing up there with Jazz?"

"We were talking," Danny responded, refusing to make eye contact with his Aunt. "May I go?"

"Where'd Danny get off to?" She stood up and eyed the loft, ignoring his question.

Danny decided to head for the door and try to get back into the loft. 'Distract her' He mouthed to Jazz before trotting off.

"Now where do you think you're going?" Alicia clamped a hand down on Danny's shoulder just as he was reaching for the doorknob.

"Home?" Danny said, but the word came out as more of a question than a sure thought.

His aunt laughed and smiled warmly, "Drop the act, Danny."

Danny gasped before responding. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm Jerry."

"Josh." His sister squeaked out. The rest of her thought must've never reached her lips, because she just sat there, slack-jawed.

"Danny, what's with the costume?"

"I, um, wanted to?"

"Alrighty then. Sit down and finish yer tea. I'll never understand kids these days."

They sat around the table, drinking the lukewarm tea. Every once in a while the siblings would share concerned glances over their mugs.

"You kids better be getting to bed. I'll clean up." Alicia hummed as she picked up their empty mugs. Jazz and Danny scampered up the ladder.

They both laid down in their cots and stared at each other through the dark. Neither of them were brave enough to speak, Danny didn't dare transform until he was sure Alicia was sound asleep. He decided to avoid Alicia at all costs for the rest of the summer. He couldn't risk her getting suspicious about anything. Jazz had drifted off into a fretful sleep a few hours before, leaving Danny alone with his thoughts. It was nearly sunrise before he finally slipped into unconsciousness.


	16. Chapter 16: Damn Dog

**Author's note: Okay, I know I said no more short chapters, but I have a good reason for this! Just read. Also, I was wondering what y'all think so far? There won't be more than 25-30 chapters and I want to know if this is making sense so far. Don't hesitate to review!**

 **Mason's POV**

Mason wrenched open the attic window. Jasper and Eli were hauling hay bales from the barn to the sheep pen. The sun was still beating down, but Mason had a mission. _Aha!_ The dog stood, wagging its tail at the edge of the forest. He dashed down the stairs, making sure his cousins didn't see him leave. When he had reached the edge of the forest the dog was nowhere to be seen, luckily the ground was muddy so tracking it wasn't an issue. He eventually caught up with the dog.

"Hey. Something tells me you're not what you seem." Mason pulled out a flask of holy water. "Jasper swears to the power of this shit, and he's never wrong. Why don't you start talking."

The dog growled. "I have nothing to say."

Mason's jaw hung open. He knew that thing wasn't really a dog, but knowing about something and seeing said thing are two different things entirely. "Oh really? Then why did you bring me to that ghost house? I could've died!"

The dog's voice was deep and raspy, "I was trying to help you. That friend of yours is the one who isn't what he seems."

"One, Danny's a city boy, he's weird. And two, how the fuck did any of that help me?"

The dog scoffed. "I didn't know _he_ would be there. That house had all the answers, it's not my fault you didn't find them."

"What answers? Stop being so confusing!"

"For a kid who figured out what I am so fast, you're pretty clueless."

"How was I supposed to know about any of this? Until today I thought you were some dumb dog."

"Don't play dumb. I was there when Jamie died. I was the one who stopped your little séance."

Mason was blinded by rage. _No. He's lying!_

"Unforuntently, I'm not. Does the name Officer Johnson ring a bell?"

"No. It's your fault I couldn't get Jamie back. You ruined my life and now you're trying to do it again. Stay away from me!" Mason turned to run back home but was stopped by a tugging on his pant leg. It was that dammed dog. "Let go of me!"

"No. You need to know what's going on, you're the reason why he's here in the first place. Now you need to stop him." Officer Johnson's speech was muffled by the fabric of Mason's clothes.

"I didn't invite him! None of this is my fault, and the Solstice festival's in a few weeks anyway. This will all be over before July. Now, will you please let go of me?!" Mason shouted and kicked the demon in the skull. A loud crunch sounded on impact, but Mason only cared about getting as far away as possible. He could hear the dog's anguished howls echoing in his ears for the rest of the day.


	17. Chapter 17: FIGHT

**Danny's POV**

It had been over a week since the ordeal with Alicia, and Danny was still avoiding her like the plague. Every morning he would grab a bite to eat and fly over to the woods by the churchyard to hunt Randolf. So far no luck, but he had a good feeling that morning. Maybe it was the heavy green-tinted fog that lingered over the town or the uncharacteristically low temperatures, but he could practically feel his ghost sense going off already.

He turned a flip mid-air, it was cold but surprisingly pleasant. A blue mist wafted from his mouth. _Bingo!_ he thought and dipped below the treeline, ready for the fight. An ectoblast barely whooshed past his head, barely missing his left ear.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my territory!" The Mayor roared over the explosion of his ectoblast. Danny shot his own ectoblast, that hit the mayor square in the chest, knocking him backward. Danny had no time to make a quip, the mayor retaliated, shooting another explosive green ball. The ghost boy turned intangible but was blown forward by the explosion. Randolf grabbed Danny around the neck and flung him onto the ground. He charged up another grenade but Danny sunk into the ground before he got hit. He charged an ectoblast and punched the back of the man's exposed skull with his glowing green fist. Rotten brain matter sloshed onto Danny's glove.

"Great, and I just washed these…" Danny muttered and reached for the Fenton Thermos. Before Danny could trap the malevolent spirit, he slammed his knee into Danny's chest. He gritted his teeth and kicked Randolf square in the face, effectively breaking his nose. "Alright Randy, back to the Ghost Zone with you!" The Man glared at him and shot one final ecto-bomb and then disappeared. Danny had just enough time to turn intangible before the explosion shook the forest floor. He rose into the air, cursing himself for not catching the ghost. He decided to fly to the town's small library to see if Jazz had found anything new.

*time skip*

Danny searched for an alleyway to transform but instead opted to simply land behind the building instead. He walked into the stuffy one-room building, Jazz wasn't at her usual table, in fact, nobody was in the library at all. Or so he thought.

"Danny!" A voice called from a dimly-lit corner. Mason was sitting in the gloom, a giant book laid open on his lap. His dog sat next to him, leaning over the book. "How are ya?"

"Um, good. Are you sure dogs are allowed in here?"

Mason shrugged. "Mrs. Snyder forgot she was a librarian two years ago. No-one goes comes here anymore. Anyway, the dog's better at reading than I am." He chuckled as the dog seemed to roll its eyes at him before turning back to the book.

"Has Jazz been in here?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do you know where she went?"

"Well, she was reading a book about bird calls and asked me 'bout where she could find a screech owl, so I'd reckon she's near your Aunt's rhubarb patch."

"Thanks." Danny nodded goodbye to Mason, walked back outside, and flew over to his Aunt's rhubarb patch. Sure enough, there was Jazz staring into the trees, binoculars in hand. "Hey, Jazz!" Danny called from behind her, laughing at how she jumped three feet into the air.

"Jeez, Danny, you scared me!" She put her hand over her heart. "And I bet you scared the owls too…" She whipped around and lifted the binoculars to her eyes. "Yup. Guess I'll have to wait for them to come back." She sighed.

"Did you find anything at the library?"

She shook her head, "Mason had the book I needed, _Spirits of Spittoon._ "

"Well, you might not need it. I almost caught 'ol Randy today." Danny grinned, playing up his description of the battle.

Jazz frowned. "Danny, be careful. He seems pretty powerful."

"And I'm not?" Danny asked and detransformed to prove his point.

"That's not what I said." Jazz rolled her eyes, but grinned and ruffled Danny's hair. "But you can at least _try_ to stay out of trouble."

Danny smiled sadly, "You know I can't do that."

She wrapped him in a hug. "I know."

 **Author's Note: My first ghost fight! How did I do? I'm not the best at action sequences...**


	18. Chapter 18: frozen

**Mason's POV**

It was 6:00 AM and the sun was just beginning to rise. Mason couldn't see it though. He was deep underground. Drip. Drip. Drip. A stalactite dripped freezing cold water onto his head. Mason could see his breath, his arms sprouted goosebumps, out of his backpack he pulled a reflective hunting jacket. Even that wasn't much good, but he continued on, teeth chattering.

His flashlight flickered along the glistening stone walls. Something didn't feel quite right. Maybe it was the small, dark, enclosed, mineshaft, but even the crunching of gravel under his boots seemed to be saying 'stay out'. Of course, at this point, even Mason would've gotten as far away as possible if it hadn't been for the dream he'd had last night. _Wow, a dream. What a great reason to be in a tunnel that could collapse ANY FUCKING MINUTE!_ He thought but continued his treck.

His dream had been unsettling, to say the least. It all started when a man in a police uniform had come crashing through the door. Mason ran out the back door before the man had a chance to rise from the splinters. Unfortunately for Mason, the policeman was on his heels. He zigzagged into the forest to try and lose the man he hoped to god he didn't know. The only problem was the farther he got, the slower he seemed to get. There was no use. He turned around to face the man. But he wasn't there. It was the damn dog. It just stood there wagging its tail.

"What do you want?" Mason shouted.

It stood on its hind legs and began to morph. Once he reached his full height Mason saw his true form. He some sort of a werewolf, but looked more like a dog. A weredog, if you will. Mason swallowed a scream and slowly backed up.

"F-fuck off!" He whimpered, tripping over his feet. "I didn't kill him!"

The beast growled. "I'm trying to help! If you don't want the rest of your family to die you need to listen."

Mason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "What do I have to do?"

A crack appeared in the ground, changing the land, becoming the mouth of a cave. No, not a cave, this was man made. This was a mineshaft.

"The answers are down there. You're going to kill everyone unless you can find a way to stop Randolf." It waved goodbye.

And then he woke up. The only thing on his mind was finding the mine. The only problem, the part of the woods he had been didn't have any sort of mineshaft. Either way, there was no chance he wouldn't at least check. Crazier things had happened. And sure enough, there it was. Just like it had been in his dream.

Now he was underground, searching for the only thing that could supposedly save his family.

A light glowed from a narrow tunnel up ahead. _That's gotta be it._ Mason thought. "If this is a trick I'm going to kill you!" Mason shouted at no one. Unless it was listening. He shook his head. _Nope. That was a poor choice of words._

Mason crept towards the light. "Whoa." He gasped.

The tunnel opened into a chamber, at least 100 feet high. Inside was a green hellscape of terrifying creatures. They all floated like guppies in a neglected tank, blank expressions on their twisted faces.

 _Are they frozen or something?_ Mason thought, not daring to come into view.

He sat there in the, peeking his head from the opening for what seemed like hours. Finally, he gave in. _It's now or never._ He squeezed from the hole and slid down the embankment onto the bottom of the chamber. No reaction.

"Hello?" he asked.

They continued to stare with the same stale expressions. Mason walked to the closest one, which happened to be hovering a few feet in front of him.

"Anyone home?" He violently waved his hand in front of its vaguely human face. No reaction. _Weird._

"They can't hear you." A voice growled from above.

Mason whipped around trying to find the source of the noise. He couldn't see anyone not horribly disfigured and glowing green. "Why not?" He asked the voice.

No answer. Mason began to feel uneasy. He picked up a rock and chucked it a ghost. It sailed straight through it. "How the fuck is this gonna help anyone?" Mason muttered. _Maybe I'm crawling through the wrong tunnel._ He thought.

A sigh echoed through the cavern. "Pay attention!" The voice shouted.

Mason whipped around. "I thought it was you!" He shouted back. Peeking out of the stone wall was the dog. "Shoulda brought my rifle," he muttered.

"I'm afraid your firearms won't do much good on me. But this cave would!"

"How?" Mason kicked at a stone by his foot. "Just seems like a normal cave to me."

The creature groaned. "Do normal caves host thousands of ghosts frozen in time?"

Mason scowled. "Guess not… But who cares how many ghosts there are? It's still pretty useless to me."

"I'm going to try and explain this as simply as I can. The creature you need to save your family from is a ghost."

The boy nodded, "So?"

"Let me finish." It snapped. "And this cave traps ghosts, freezes them in time."

"Oh shit really?"

"Yes, which is why you need to lure the ghost here-"

"So it'll be trapped! Got it. How do I do that again?"

"I don't know, but I know where we can find out. Follow me."

Mason scampered up the steep wall and squeezed through the opening back into the tunnel. The dog led him to the library.

"Great. Reading." Mason rolled his eyes.

"I'll do the research, you just need to turn the pages. Now be quiet, I'm not sure how the townsfolk would react to some kid talking to his dog."

"Better than the dog talking back." Mason retorted and opened the door. "Now… which book is it?"

"Spirits of Spittoon." The dog responded. "By AJ Fenton."

"Fenton, eh?" Mason muttered. "Where have I heard that before…"

"Doesn't matter. Get the book. We don't have time to waste."

Mason nodded and ran his finger along the spines of the books until he landed on an old dusty leatherbound book. "This it?"

The dog nodded. Mason plucked the heavy book from the shelf and wiped a layer of dust off the cover. He thumbed through the yellowed pages. "This is all hogwash. What the fuck is a Skulker supposed to be?"

"Maybe try reading the page instead of just looking at the title." The dog suggested.

"What's the Ghost Zone?"

"It's the dimension where ghosts usually live."

"Mm-hmm," Mason said, already losing interest.

"Let me see it!" The dog hissed.

"Fine." Mason fell into a chair and plunked the book down on his lap.

"Now let's see... turn to page 345."

Mason flipped to the page and the dog began reading aloud. "Randolf: Obsession with explosions. Needlessly violent and incredibly territorial. Nothing we don't know already…"

"Well, we need to get him to that cave, right?"

"Yes."

"And he's territorial, right?"

"That'll never work. He'll kill you without a second thought."

"I'm pretty fast. f I can get him to chase me, then he'll be trapped in the cave."

"Not a good plan. Let's keep -" Mason wrapped his hand around the dog's muzzle as Jazz walked in.

"Hi, Jazz!"

"Oh, hi Mason," she responded. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. Just reading. I'd assume the same for you?"

"Yeah. I was just looking for a book on, um… bird calls! Yeah, that's right, bird calls."

"Oh, well if you're looking for birds there's a family of screech owls near Alicia's."

"Good, good. I'll go now." Jazz dashed back out the door. Mason released his grip on the dog's muzzle.

The dog licked its lips. "Thanks," he said dryly. "Let's continue, shall we?"

Mason nodded and turned the page.


End file.
